The horrific leg injury suffered by basketball player Kevin Ware on the court Sunday is a rare event in sports, but it is more commonplace in the world of orthopedic surgeons, who regularly see such fractures among victims of car accidents and other trauma.

That's one reason why treatment for open or compound fractures—in which the bone penetrates the skin—has evolved to offer patients like Mr. Ware an excellent chance for full recovery.

The University of Louisville player was hurt during an NCAA tournament game in Indianapolis when he landed on the floor after leaping to block a shot. The play was seen by millions on television, but none as closely as Mr. Ware's coaches and teammates, whose emotional response added to the gravity of the incident.

Mr. Ware underwent successful surgery that took about two hours Sunday night at Methodist Hospital, which often treats race-car drivers injured at the nearby Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Doctors cleaned the wound and inserted a rod into his right tibia. By Monday morning he was walking on crutches.

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Louisville teammates gather around teammate Louisville guard Kevin Ware after he broke his right leg in the NCAA regional final game on Sunday.
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"He's not in a whole lot of pain," Louisville coach Rick Pitino said. While no timetable was set for his return to the court, "we expect him to make a full recovery," Mr. Pitino said.

Some 40 years ago, such injuries were treated with casts and braces. Then doctors began inserting horizontal pins, which protruded from the leg, to stabilize the bone.

"In the last 20 years we've been treating this kind of injury with a titanium rod to shish-kabob the bone back to its normal alignment," said David Helfet, chief of orthopedic trauma at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York.

Typically, a half-inch rod runs from just above the ankle to just below the knee, or about 15 inches, though longer lengths are available.

Orthopedic surgeons not connected with Mr. Ware's case said the freak injury may have been caused simply by the way he landed.

"He leaped high, he leaped vertically and he leaped horizontally," said Frederick Azar, an orthopedic surgeon at University of Tennessee-affiliated Campbell Clinic, Memphis. "He could have planted and twisted and torque could have caused a fracture."

Another possibility is that Mr. Ware had an undetected stress fracture in his bone caused by the cumulative pounding an athlete's legs take, which made it vulnerable to a break. Mr. Pitino said Mr. Ware had no pre-existing condition.

"Basically his leg went one way and his shoe went another and the bone split," Mr. Pitino said.

Mr. Ware's doctors at Indiana University Health-affiliated Methodist Hospital referred questions to the University of Louisville.

Some doctors say Mr. Ware's injury may have been worse had he suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament—a common knee injury among athletes that can take longer to heal and rehabilitate than a bone fracture.

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University of Louisville basketball player Kevin Ware is recovering from two hours of surgery following a gruesome leg injury during the team's Elite Eight NCAA game against Duke on Sunday. Jason Gay reports. Photo: Getty Images

"Even though it was a devastating injury to look at, in the big scheme of things, it's not the worst injury you can have around your knee and/or your leg," said Dr. Helfet.

The biggest concern for recovery from such injuries is infection, said Elizabeth Matzkin, an orthopedic surgeon and sports medicine expert at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston.

Since most compound fractures that doctors see are the result of accidents, the wounds often are filled with dirt and other debris, posing a challenge to cleaning them, she said. Since Mr. Ware's injury occurred on the court, it was likely clean, reducing the risk of infection, she added. Mr. Ware's leg was covered with a towel when he was carried off the court.

Barring infection, Mr. Ware will return to Louisville on Tuesday and travel with the team Wednesday to Atlanta for the NCAA tournament's national semifinal Saturday, Mr. Pitino said.

The experiences of other athletes who suffered similar injuries bode well for Mr. Ware. Former Louisville running back Michael Bush broke his right leg in two places during a football game in 2006 and had surgery the following day to repair his tibia. Seven months later he was drafted by the Oakland Raiders. Now with the Chicago Bears, Mr. Bush has scored 27 touchdowns since 2008.

Edgar Sosa, a former Louisville basketball player, also broke his right leg in 2011 while playing for the Dominican Republic in an international tournament. He missed a year of competition but returned this year as a professional player in Spain.

The most famous example of a gruesome injury in sports history belongs to former Washington Redskins quarterback Joe Theismann, whose right leg shattered when he was tackled in a game in 1985. The hit ended Mr. Theismann's career.

Dr. Matzkin doesn't think the Theismann case is a template for Mr. Ware. "It may take him a year to get back to a full 100%," she said. "I don't see this as a career-ending injury."

At some point after the bone heals, Mr. Ware and his doctors may consider whether to remove the rod to prevent possible pain from the impact of playing. The procedure is straightforward, Dr. Helfet said, and might require six weeks of recovery.

At some airports, the titanium rod inserted in the bone could set off security alarms, Dr. Helfet added. "If that's his biggest problem, he'll handle it," he said.

Corrections & Amplifications The rod typically used to treat a compound fracture runs from just above the ankle to just below the knee. An earlier version incorrectly said it ran to just above the knee.

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